Captivate
by Count of Eight
Summary: "He pulled his brows into a frown and twisted in his seat to regard Shion with one slate-colored eye, noting the soothing, benign curve of his pink lips and how it was utterly belied by the stark heat in his eyes." In which Shion Insists and Nezumi is doomed to fail.


A/n: Sorry about the formatting snafu. I think it's fixed now...

* * *

"Nezumi."

Nezumi didn't look up from the advanced engineering textbook in his lap. He _refused_ to look up.

He heard Shion purr an amused hum in the back of his throat as he padded closer and felt tension web through his own shoulders in response.

"Shion–" he warned, making sure the words came out smoothly. That tone and the waves of reeking intent from the pale man could have strange effects on his throat and he didn't want to encourage him.

"What?" The voice that had come to rest just behind his chair glittered with innocence but Nezumi knew better. The man was a _demon_.

"You know what," he responded evenly and Shion laughed, bright and airy as his slender fingers settled on Nezumi's shoulders. The dark haired boy slapped at them distractedly, huffing out a harassed breath when they only dug in deeper, kneading the muscle in a way that was designed to relax him, to pull the resistance out of him. After long hours spent curled around a textbook, it was succeeding more than he planned on showing.

He pulled his brows into a frown and twisted in his seat to regard Shion with one slate-colored eye, noting the soothing, benign curve of his pink lips and how it was utterly belied by the stark heat in his eyes. Nezumi knew better than to look into them for too long, letting his gaze slide sideways to fix instead on the pale red stripe that graced Shion's cheekbone.

He wouldn't allow the smoldering ember in those red eyes to pass into his own. Not right now.

He gathered the proper annoyance around him like armor. He was annoyed, after all. This particular page had been troubling him for the past half hour and he was just starting to feel like all the messy notes and queries he had scribbled in the margins were about to coalesce in to something meaningful when there had been a ring of the shop bell below despite it being long after hours and familiar, feather-light footfalls on the stairs to their room.

Nezumi had tasted Shion's intentions in the air before the other had even finished dropping his book bag to the floor, and he had focused all the harder on the page for them. He wanted to understand this, damn it. It wouldn't kill Shion to be told no for once.

"Don't get overeager," he said, pushing the other's hands away more firmly this time. "If my prince remembers correctly, you were the one who pushed for me to enroll in these classes. I'm not interested in wasting my time by failing, so _let me study_."

Shion allowed his hands to be removed, using one to gesture lightly at the open book while pressing his chest in against the hunched plane of Nezumi's back and shoulders. The soft edge of dominance in his next words scraped over Nezumi's skin beneath the syllables and nearly made him reconsider. A dominant Shion was rare and always worthwhile, but he would be holding his ground tonight.

"You've been studying. It's time for a break."

"Then humble yourself to make me some coffee, Majesty."

"Mm, not what I had in mind," Shion hummed against him like Nezumi wasn't already fucking aware of that. Talking didn't seem to be getting him anywhere so Nezumi simply reread the same line of notations he had been reading on loop for the past several minutes and ignored Shion's words entirely.

There was a soft click of a tongue beside his ear and Shion pulled back slightly before Nezumi felt the familiar tug and loosening sensation of his hair knot coming undone. Ebony strands spilled down over his neck and into his eyes, and for the first time in years he found himself giving serious thought to cutting it, though he knew his vanity would never allow it in the end.

He reread the notation again.

It absolutely failed to filter into his brain any more than it had the last twenty-three times.

A soft hand trailed sensation through his newly freed hair.

"You're troublesome today."

There was smile in his voice. Like he was enjoying it.

"Funny, I was just going to say the same about you."

"I'm sure you understand it well enough anyway." Shion mused as if he hadn't heard him, running a finger over the text and Nezumi felt his lip curl just slightly.

"Hate to disappoint, but we can't all be geniuses."

"Mm," Shion hummed again, sliding a slow hand down his back that curved lightly around his ribs and came to rest with agonizing gentleness on his thigh. Nezumi fought down the shudder that threatened to ripple through him with a combination of willpower and practice. "You're plenty smart enough, though." Shion's other hand was turning the chair on its axis, slowly swiveling Nezumi toward his doom and breaking even the pretense of his concentration. His voice lilted, turning utterly benign words filthy with intent. "And you've had so much _experience_."

" _Shion–_ "

Anything more he might have said was shorn off when Shion's soft lips fitted themselves against his own, pulling him into a slow, filthy kiss in which Shion mapped him with slow intent and made silent promises as to exactly how this was going to go.

Sometimes Nezumi regretted teaching him how to kiss.

The boy was far too skilled a learner.

When Shion's mouth finally released his with a low noise of satisfaction Nezumi's breathing was patterning irregular, a familiar heat sinking uninvited into his veins. His throat felt tight, words of dismissal lodged half-forgotten inside, but it threatened to close off entirely when Shion deftly plied his legs apart and sank to his knees between them, hunger written heavily on his features and all pretext abandoned.

Fingers skittered down his arms to pull the textbook from his suddenly lax grip. "Your mother–"

"Is out," Shion said simply, setting the book aside with an audible _thump_ that set fissures through what was left of Nezumi's fading resistance. "And won't be back until late."

His automatic response that it _was_ late was lost to a low moan as Shion's hands drew up his thighs, dragging sweet friction in their wake. Then the fingers of one hand grabbed at him through the fabric of his pants, finding him half-hard and growing.

Shion's smile curved wickedly upward.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

Before Nezumi could even begin to reach for a proper response to Shion quoting _Shakespeare_ at him, light little fingers were already working him free of his pants. He sucked in a breath when the cool air hit his length, but then Shion leaned forward and pulled him into his mouth and there was nothing but slick heat and the slide of a perfect, pink tongue against his suddenly burning skin.

Shion's tongue moved over him, swirling the still-malleable flesh around until Nezumi could feel himself growing within the silken confines of Shion's mouth. When the other man hollowed out his cheeks, suctioning heated pressure around his cock Nezumi bit down on the sound that welled up inside him, turning it rough and scratchy in his throat. Shion had taken him in fully at first, but the size was rapidly becoming too much for him under the application of his clever tongue. Nezumi's hands knotted white around the arms of his chair to keep from fisting them in the softness of Shion's hair and shoving him down onto him harder. Farther.

There were times that Shion enjoyed that kind of play, but Nezumi knew by experience that he wouldn't tolerate it in the mood he was in tonight.

A low sound wrung its way from inside him as Shion's tongue swept up his head to drag its way through the slit. He was starting to climb already. In the perfection of Shion's mouth he it was always a struggle to last, but Shion could read the telltale signs in the tremble in his thighs and the upward sweep of his voice and pulled back from him entirely, letting Nezumi slide from his mouth with a soft, wet noise that flared sparks in his stomach and which, under other circumstances, would have had him pinning the other man in an instant.

"Floor."

The command was as soft as the tug on the front of his shirt, but it was absolute. Nezumi lurched forward, his knees hitting the wood with twin thumps as Shion pushed the chair away from them, wheels carrying it in the direction of the desk that he hadn't bothered to sit at. He heard it hit, but couldn't spare it a glance when all his attention was focused on the young man in front of him.

Dimly, a small corner of his mind muttered acerbic comments over how readily he was going along with everything now, but the pulse in his cock and the shallow haze of his mind ensured that he was invested in this now and _damn_ did he want to see where it went. And besides… when Shion spoke like that, voice edged with expectation and an easy confidence that was usually Nezumi's own domain, he found that it had a certain pull over him that he couldn't easily deny.

Shion shifted his weight back to his heels then rose with a curt gesture indicating that Nezumi was to stay as he was. "Shirt and pants," he intoned while making his way toward the nightstand, and Nezumi immediately began hauling off the faded tee and discarding it into a crumpled pile beside him.

He had never admitted it, but he loved the way that Shion grew quiet in his dominance.

On most nights, nights when the power was Nezumi's or simply shared between them Shion was a current of words and sound, all soft sighs and needy pleas as he rode the waves of whatever pleasure they found together that evening; His lips bubbling forth a near-constant stream of _yes_ and _there_ and _Nezumi_. But when it was like this–– when Shion could command and know that those commands would be followed he grew quiet, allowing each soft decree to steep solitary in the air without diluting them with further wordplay, and Nezumi found himself utterly caught by it.

There was something about the giving in, about going along with each word from Shion's lips without question that stirred him powerfully and left him panting that much harder, blood beating that much faster for whatever Shion chose to do with him. It was utter, willful surrender to the only hands he could ever give himself over to, and the fact that Shion was quiet in his ownership only heightened the thrill of his submission.

He was pulling at the fastenings of his pants when he heard the muted click of objects being shuffled around in their nightstand drawer and he felt a heated flare of anticipation curl around his spine as he struggled to pull the fabric from his body without disturbing his kneeling position. That drawer contained many things, some often used, others more rarely, but Nezumi could never predict what Shion was going to pull out when he was like this. He didn't try to look however, despite the tension humming through his veins.

He'd find out soon enough.

He was naked by the time he heard the drawer slide shut behind him and Shion's soft footfalls drew near once more. A hand trailed up his bared spine, igniting both his sense of danger and pleasure in thick waves beneath his skin.

He shivered, but didn't move.

There was a hum of approval and then Nezumi heard the rustle of fabric as Shion shed his own clothing. He itched to turn around, to soak in the sight of that slender body that was near enough behind him for Nezumi to feel the heat of it on his own skin, taunting him. But then the hand on his spine returned and this time there was a push. Another command, wordless, but one he understood well. He folded himself at the waist until his forehead touched the floor, supporting himself as gracefully as he could with his arms as he made himself available to Shion.

He heard the slick, barely-there sound of lube on skin followed immediately by the cool press of fingers at his entrance and Nezumi bared his teeth against the floor in something that might have been a grin and might have been simple animal anticipation. They didn't enter him right away but lingered, rubbing over the sensitive ring again and again, pressing but never quite breaking past the resistance until Nezumi could feel his spine start to seize with each pass and each miss.

Shion could feel it too, and when the tremors reached some quiet criteria in his head he pushed in without warning, earning a sliding moan from Nezumi as the first finger broke past the thick ring of muscle to be taken in fully and without preamble. It pulled out, then pushed in again until the skin of Shion's palm met the curve of Nezumi's ass. Then again. And again.

Nezumi bit into his own forearm at the slide within him.

It wasn't enough. A single finger couldn't do any more than tease. It lit his nerves with a slow burn and made him ache for more. For _substance_.

Then the second finger entered him and for a moment the pressure inside him was blissful, a tight and smooth stretch that made his spine arch and his voice sweep low in his throat. But all too quickly his body began to adjust; first accepting, then welcoming the intrusion until he found himself longing for the stretch and pull of a third finger that didn't seem to be coming as Shion continued to work him with two.

He growled and pushed his hips back hard around the touch, seeking friction. His cock, left with nothing but cooling saliva and anticipation for long minutes ached between his legs and this just _wasn't enough_. He needed more.

He needed it, but then Shion's fingers left him entirely. He couldn't suppress the sharp noise of frustration that pulled from him at suddenly being empty when he so desperately wanted to be _full_.

Shion's hand slapped lightly over his ass.

"On your back."

The simple command took him by surprise and left him momentarily thrown, face still pressed into the floor and hips in the air. He'd thought he'd known what was coming but Shion was changing the game. He obeyed though, flipping over and lowering himself to the floor with muscles that were less coordinated than he was used to. He misjudged, and hit the wood with a soft _thump_ that parted his lips as the breath left his lungs.

Shion moved to straddle him and Nezumi sucked in an appreciative breath because finally he could _see_ him, all slim pale limbs and sensuous winding red that seemed to undulate temptingly with the sway of his hips. It was all he could do not to reach up and touch, but he kept his hands at his sides as Shion sank down with his knees to either side of his waist, maintaining a heated eye contact that had a whine threatening at the back of his throat before their skin even met.

A delicate thumb swiped over his nipple and Nezumi arched up, pushing into the heated press of Shion's thighs, trying to claim every inch of skin he could without asserting himself too far. He ached for contact, starved for it. Everything up until now had been brief and teasing and he felt like he was going mad from it.

 _It wasn't enough_.

Shion's lips tilted upward in satisfaction at his reaction, his weight shifting above Nezumi as he reached for the lube, popping the cap and deftly smearing more of the glossy liquid over his fingers and palm. Then he leaned forward, raising his hips and bracing one hand on the floor directly above Nezumi's shoulder. Nezumi had only a moment to wonder what was going on before Shion's slick fingers slid under those pale hips and pushed into himself; His face, now less than a foot from Nezumi's own, breaking open in pleasure.

And that just wasn't fucking fair.

"Ah," Shion breathed around the sudden pressure he was inflicting upon himself, pupils dilating and pink lips opening up in a sigh. He pushed in farther, stretching himself and this close Nezumi could read it all on his face like text in a book. He saw every twist and thrust of Shion's fingers chase its way across those expressive features and he bit down on a groan because this particular brand of torture was as exquisite as any pain.

His cock, unattended and demanding, surged somehow harder between his legs, spilling thick beads of precum down its aching length. He almost wished that he could close his eyes against this epicurean display but he couldn't have looked away from Shion if his life depended on it. He was radiant, features soft even as they moved around the spasms of pleasure he was creating for himself, lips tipping lax and eyes fluttering as they turned inward. Lost in it.

Nezumi grit his teeth.

It was a marvel how something so delicate could make him feel so _animal_.

There was a marrow-deep imperative clawing at him to reach up and touch him, to _grab_ him, so strong that it made his fingers ache in sharp bursts and he balled them, shaking, at his sides. He wanted to knock Shion's hand aside, wanted to drag that friction through him with his _own_ fingers until the other was a shuddering mess. He wanted to wipe that self-absorbed expression off of Shion's face and make him _beg_ for him and then take him until he could no longer speak, but Shion's eyes flew open like he had heard the heard the thought and this time Nezumi couldn't suppress the soft whine in the back of his throat at the command in them. That would not be allowed.

It was Nezumi who would be begging tonight.

Crimson eyes lingered on him a moment longer before Shion's fingers began moving again and they slid off elsewhere, unable to remain still against the sensation shivering inside him. Shion's cheeks were beginning to flush warm now, desire and pleasure working their way through the pale skin of his face and dusting it pink as he worked himself open. It was cosmically unjust that he should look so inviting and defenseless while demanding such stillness and control from Nezumi. He became aware that his nails were digging stinging crescents into his palms, but he couldn't seem to relax them. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle.

" _Ah_!" Shion gasped out again, eyes blowing wide and head falling back against tremoring shoulders. He'd found that spot within himself and Nezumi was vaguely surprised to hear his own voice mingling with Shion's, need prying it from his throat as sure as any torture. Shion didn't pay any heed to him though, and ground down inside himself harder, back arching and hips twitching around the pressure of his own fingers.

The world spun slowly in Nezumi's vision as soft pants for breath and delicate, shuddering sounds began to fall rhythmically from Shion's mouth. Every flutter of Shion's eyes and sigh from his lips raced down his spine to throb painfully in his cock and spike through his blood in a way that reverberated throughout his entire body.

He wanted to touch him. He _needed_ to touch him.

Shion moaned, the noise light and airy and utterly, utterly unjust in its pull over him.

His hands twitched up, unsteady but intent. Some corner of his mind chittered a warning, but his thoughts weren't aligning properly anymore. For an instant his fingers gripped the smooth perfection of Shion's thighs before they were lightly swatted away. He jerked them back as if stung.

"Troublesome," Shion chided, tone edging breathless. There was a slide of fabric and then the bite of leather at his wrists. Shion was making use of one of their belts, though Nezumi's scattered mind couldn't attest to which. He moaned, equal parts anticipation, and frustration but didn't try to resist as any hope of control was taken from him.

His blood spiked as Shion carefully looped and doubled the leather, making him tremble. It wasn't tight, and would only leave marks if he fought but he knew that it was expertly tied. He'd found the book Shion had used to study and once the other boy put his mind to learning a thing he _learned_ it. Often better than those who were considered experts. Without his knife this would hold even him until Shion decided to set him free, but still he allowed it, offering nothing but liquid submission even as Shion finished off the knot and moved his now useless wrists to rest above his head.

Shion looked down and watched as Nezumi's lips parted around air, as though savoring the feeling of helplessness without the sharp tang of fear that would poison it anywhere else but here between them. His arms trembled, the rise and fall of his chest coming in ragged, irregular movements.

Beautiful.

Nezumi shuddered at the invisible pull of Shion's eyes over his skin. It scraped at him, making his skin feel raw and his hunger for contact beat an unsteady percussion in his veins. But the pull of leather at his wrists was a fresh reminder that he was not the one to decide anything tonight and so he forced himself to relax, drawing in a deep breath and deliberately softening his body into something compliant under Shion's gaze.

He was rewarded by the soft drag of flesh on flesh as Shion draped bodily over him and joined their lips. Nezumi pushed upward into the kiss, every inch of that contact a lifeline for him in a swirling sea of sensation and need. A soft tongue pushed past his lips and he welcomed it, drinking down the sensation of Shion exploring him like man dying who has just been offered a cure. His fingers flexed within their binds, still aching to touch and hold, but he did not struggle against them.

He thought he felt the other man smile.

He nearly shouted against Shion's lips when the other's still-slick fingers wrapped around his length, coating it with a few delicate pumps and guiding it up to align with the Shion's entrance. After so long in neglect, the sudden contact had his spine snapping taut and his hips jerking roughly, but Shion waited until the movement subsided before breaking the kiss and pushing back, slowly allowing Nezumi to spread him open.

Shion moaned, soft but uninhibited as he sank down over Nezumi and Nezumi felt his own rougher voice climb first to meet, and then surpass it at the feel of the tight, silken fire that was Shion burning around him.

 _This_ was what he had needed. The friction inside Shion dragged at him, pulling every atom of his existence into the singular sensation of the velvet heat of the other man slowly taking him in and god it felt so _good_ …

Shion kept sinking, didn't stop until there was nothing left to take, and when his hips came flush with Nezumi's he immediately lifted them and then pushed back down again, falling into a steady rhythm that had both of their heads tipping back, voices mixing in the otherwise still air.

It was somewhere along the twelfth stroke that Nezumi realized with something akin to horror that he was climbing again.

It was too soon, much too soon, but he couldn't hope hide it any more than he could stop it. Shion knew all his tells better even than he did himself, and in his current state they came pouring out of him in a flood, refusing to be stemmed or even disguised into something less damning. Shion's brows pushed together in a small frown when he noticed, hips immediately stalling atop him.

"Wait…" Nezumi pleaded, but Shion was already sliding off of him, reaching for another item and Nezumi _knew_ , knew what it was even before the tight constriction of the cock ring slid down his length to fit snugly at its base.

"Not yet." Shion's voice was firm as it shattered him. "You can't come yet, Nezumi."

Nezumi wasn't sure how to classify the noise that left his throat then, but it was soft and utterly complete in its desperation. Almost what a scream would be like if it came out a whisper.

Then Shion was sinking over him again but this time it was slow – too fucking slow. Too much slide and not enough drag. He squeezed his eyes shut, frustration pouring into every inch of his body.

Even without the ring, this might not have been enough; the _might_ only because he was so desperate that _anything_ might have worked on him just then, but Shion was taking no chances with him. He felt as though he could watch what was left of his composure breaking apart in front of his eyes, but then that might have just been the haze that was settling around his vision. Nezumi wouldn't have claimed to be sure of anything just then.

An impatient, needy sound skittered around in the higher registers of his voice as Shion continued his agonizing pace. He couldn't hold it back. He barely bothered to try.

Through the fog he saw pink lips curl around a fond smile and another noise, lower this time, tore past his teeth. Shion's response was an approving hum, and then fingers were pushing lightly at his entrance, nearly forgotten in what had felt like an eternity of other teasing.

Nezumi's mouth tipped open but no sound emerged, his hips bucking up wildly without warning and beyond all hope of control, as though the seizing movement had been balanced on a trigger and that soft touch had released it. They kept jerking, seeking friction, seemingly unable to stop once they had started, but Shion simply hooked his ankles over Nezumi's thighs and rode the roll of his hips placidly, not giving an inch more than he intended. No move was made to stop him. Shion simply allowed it to play out, his smile easing into something knowing. Anticipating. Soon Nezumi's breathing was shuddering out helplessly labored, the stutter of his hips melting down into little more than subdued trembling. The muscles in his legs felt like butter, not an ounce of strength left in them. He gasped for breath, couldn't seem to find it.

" _Shion_ ," he moaned, voice dissolving strangely on his tongue. It didn't sound like his voice. Didn't feel like his tongue.

Shion's hand fitted against the side of his cheek, stroking lightly and Nezumi pushed helplessly in to the contact. "Good," he soothed. "Just like that, Nezumi."

Friction exploded through his veins and Shion was moving again, faster this time. Almost, _almost_ enough. His cock fought uselessly at the ring holding it at bay. " _Shion_ …" The final syllable broke apart, shattering into something that wasn't speech at all. He felt a shudder of appreciation roll up Shion's spine as he shoved himself down on Nezumi harder, earning another wrecked moan in process.

Two fingers pushed inside him without bothering to tease and Nezumi nearly screamed.

" _Louder_."

He didn't need to be told.

Shion's fingers worked him at the same pace as his hips, finding his prostate and bearing down upon it with ruthless efficiency. The added sensation set fire to his vision and vicious, twisting sparks through every inch of his body. Sound spilled from his lips unchecked, his capabilities slipping past coherency in into something other, more animal.

Shion was gasping too now, riding Nezumi's cock hard like he couldn't get enough. He leaned over, crushing their lips together and Nezumi opened his mouth immediately, allowing Shion's hungry kiss all the access it needed, moaning against tongue and teeth and _heat_ that stole everything from him even as they forced his heart to somehow keep beating.

When they could no longer sustain themselves on the little oxygen that came with gasping each other's exhales Shion pulled away again, looking down at him and running a thumb through the saliva clinging to Nezumi's slackened lower lip. For a moment Nezumi thought he could almost see himself through Shion's eyes; chest heaving with grey eyes blown black and glassy in his skull, features slack and open amidst tangled hair and sweaty skin.

A shudder wracked him.

"You look so good like this." The tone somehow managed to sound adoring despite the way Shion's breath was pushing itself through every syllable as he spoke. "So perfect. Nezumi, I––" His breath seemed to fail him, hips stuttering out of rhythm for the first time and Nezumi _knew_ what that meant. He jerked, eyes wide and wrists straining against the restriction of the belt, summoning every scrap of shattered will into forming a single, coherent sound.

" _Please––_ "

If not for the ring, Shion's smile would have fetched him right there.

In a single, smooth motion Shion slid off of him, fingers of his free hand looping under the ring, dragging it up and off his skin. Barely had it left him before Shion was around him again, hips stuttering urgently and _hard_ , only this time Nezumi was allowed to climb, and climb he did with almost desperate abandon, eyes locked blurrily on Shion's face. There was a hazy moment as he shot upwards towards his peak where he worried he might not last long enough for Shion, but then the other man was jerking hard atop him.

"Ah," he gasped like he was surprised, then came with a whimper, but Nezumi felt exactly how hard it shook him around his cock, the extra pressure sending his already tattered senses into screaming overdrive, flinging him still higher until he could _see_ the end rushing up on him like a vast wall...

His own orgasm hit then, hard enough to crack white through his vision and rip the breath from his lungs in something he knew must have been a shout but that he couldn't hear over the white noise suddenly blooming inside his skull. He felt Shion collapse on top of him as they both shook through their last few waves of pleasure, felt soft lips pepper small kisses against his skin as softer hands reached up to free him of the belt. His hands remained where they fell once they had been freed, unable or unwilling to move properly beyond the tremble in his muscles that failed to dissipate even after the last shocks of his orgasm had sunk back into his bones.

Shion's hands petted soothing comfort over his aching skin, murmuring words of affection and praise as he slowly, carefully slid off him. He felt him shudder as the last vestiges of pressure left him but Nezumi could only grunt, voice tasting raw on his tongue. His limbs felt weighted and heavy and he wanted to sleep. His back was already starting to ache from the rough treatment of the floor on his bones, but even that was distant to him now; Barely tickling at the edges of his consciousness.

His eyes slid shut.

There was a quiet, distinctly fond sigh from beside him before he felt Shion's arm snake gently under his shoulders and begin to guide him into a sitting position. The movement was unwelcome, but he had not the energy to resist nor even truly the will so he simply allowed it, turning his face into Shion's neck when he felt it close and pushing in until he _felt_ Shion huff an amused laugh as he pulled him upright and more firmly into his arms.

Shion would never apologize for the way things went between them on nights like this and Nezumi would never wish him to, but afterward, when he was spent and liquid and vulnerable in ways that surpassed even the sex...

If there were ever a time when he would give in to a bit of coddling, it was then.

Shion managed to be gentle even as he struggled with Nezumi's weight, slowly easing the both of them forward without disturbing Nezumi's position. Nezumi thought a soft sound might have escaped against Shion's skin as he was moved but he couldn't recall reasons why that should matter anymore so he simply pushed himself further into the heat of Shion's neck, earning another soft chuckle and a protective squeeze.

There was a gentle push of wood as the backs of his knees bumped up against the bed frame and he felt himself being carefully lowered down again. He sank bonelessly into the mattress, the softness seeming to envelop him whole as the aches under his skin began to loosen in appreciation. A soft breath moved over his lips and he turned, searching to align himself more fully with the presence beside him but Shion's warmth began to move away him.

His hand wordlessly shot out, catching at skin. He never liked to be left alone after Shion had hollowed him out and scraped him dry like this. Need always quickly moved in to replace the momentary nothingness. It clung inside of him, adhering to all the walls and webs of his heart. A need for presence and for human warmth.

Shion's warmth.

Shion pressed a warm, tender kiss to his temple.

"Just the lights," he promised, gently disengaging from Nezumi's grasp.

Soft footfalls moved across the wood but Nezumi's eyes were too heavy to properly track the movement so he let them slide shut instead, reveling in the cool darkness that enveloped him. A soft click and a change in the hue of the black behind his eyelids alerted him that Shion had indeed switched off the lights, but that sensory information was secondary. Unimportant. What _was_ important was the heat of the smooth body that returned to him shortly after, climbing in and folding against him in the dark.

His arms felt like lead but he moved them, encircling the slim waist in the first true embrace he had been allowed all evening. His body felt strangely loose, as though it were barely held together by the pull of muscle over his bones, and it was easy to imagine he was slowly drifting apart with the affectionate push of Shion's fingers through his hair, each small part of himself separating to become something individual and complete.

There was the press of a warm, lingering kiss at his forehead.

Nezumi mustered what little strength he could to pull Shion that much closer to him, and surrendered himself to sleep.

* * *

A/n: Meeeeep


End file.
